


Take It Easy

by IntrovertedRavenclaw



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam needs to take better care of himself, Cuddling, Friendship, Gansey is the mom friend, Sick Adam Parrish, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 22:58:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13798116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntrovertedRavenclaw/pseuds/IntrovertedRavenclaw
Summary: Gansey frowned. "You need to take it easy when you're not feeling well. And let us know before it gets this bad."Adam Parrish is fiercely independent and accepts help from no one- until he gets a fever at work. Gansey and Ronan come to the rescue.





	Take It Easy

**Author's Note:**

> So I really love sickfics and I also really love Adam Parrish so I just had to make him suffer again. Sorry Adam.

Adam knew he was screwed. He'd been sick before; very little sleep and constant stress meant that he picked up a cold from time to time, but this was worse. He could barely move without all of his muscles screaming in pain. At least it was Saturday, and he only had to work a shift in the morning (that is, if he could get himself up). Adam allowed himself to lay in bed and feel sorry for himself for ten minutes, then forced himself to sit up.

_Too fast._ He had sat up too fast, and now the room was spinning. Adam put his head in his hands until the feeling passed, then stood up. While brushing his teeth, he realized that his throat ached, and his nose was stuffed. He tore off a piece of toilet paper and blew his nose, but it did little to clear the congestion in his head. He wondered if he should call in sick and stay home, but he decided against it, which was his first mistake.

While working in the garage, Adam's thoughts were so foggy that he could barely accomplish anything. He kept making mistakes and having to start over, only for his brain to lose track of where he was. His face felt hot, but that was impossible, because he felt cold and shivery.

"Parrish!" Boyd called. "There's another one coming in at..." he trailed off. "Are you feeling okay?"

Adam didn't have the energy to lie, so he just shook his head.

"I'm sending you home," his boss said. "You look like shit."

Adam pulled himself to his feet and used the phone to call Gansey.

"Hi, Adam." Gansey greeted. "When do you get off work? Because we-"

"Actually," Adam croaked timidly. "Do you think you... or Ronan... could give me a ride home?"

"Sure, when?" Gansey asked. Then a pause. "Are you okay?"

"I just..." Adam let out a feeble cough. "I don't feel good. Boyd's sending me home."

"I'll be right there." Sure enough, the orange Camaro pulled in ten minutes later, and Adam dragged himself to the car.

"Whoa." Gansey said. "You look cadaverous."

"No one knows what that means," Adam grumbled, climbing into the backseat. He rested his pounding head against the window.

"Really, you look peaked." Gansey turned around to face him. "Maybe we should take you to a doctor."

"No." Adam said weakly, coughing. He didn't even have a proper cough; just a weird tickly feeling in the back of his throat. "I don't... have insurance." he shivered.

"I can take care of it, Adam-"

Adam didn't even have the energy to fight. "I wanna sleep. Probably just have a cold anyway." he closed his eyes, his head still resting against the window, and Gansey reached back to feel his forehead.

"You have a high fever."

"'m cold." Adam shivered. Ronan took off his black sweatshirt and passed it back. Adam struggled to put in on, then closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Do you want to go home or to Monmouth with us?" Gansey asked, but Adam was starting to fall asleep and didn't reply. "Adam."

"Hmm?" Adam forced himself awake. "Home."

"We're not leaving him." Ronan said gruffly to Gansey. "I can stay with him. You can go get medicine."

"I'm fine," Adam muttered.

"No, you're not." Gansey and Ronan said at the same time. When the car stopped outside of St. Agnes, Ronan turned around and said, "Can you walk, or should I carry you?"

"I'm fine," Adam groaned. He opened the car door and stood up, but nearly fell over. Gansey threw an arm around him, then Ronan scooped him up and slung Adams's body gently over his shoulder.

"Gansey will go get you some medicine," Ronan said, his voice carrying a gentleness that Adam had never heard before. "Fuck, Parrish, how'd you get so sick?" Adam didn't reply.

Ronan deposited him gently onto his mattress, and Adam curled up around his pillow. "My throat is burning."

Ronan then pressed a glass of water into Adam's hand. Clumsily, Adam took a sip, spilling a little. He set the glass on the upside down plastic crate that served as his night stand, then looked at Ronan.

"Are you mad?" Adam croaked.

"Not mad." Ronan sighed, exasperated. "If you're this sick, you need to tell us."

"I didn't think it was this bad." He whispered, yawning. Then he closed his eyes. He woke up sometime later, his face burning, stomach churning, and his mind on the edge of a fever dream. Adam forced his eyes open, and saw both Gansey and Ronan sitting beside his bed.

"How do you feel?" Gansey asked, clearly worried.

Adam just shook his head as minutely as possible. Ronan handed him two pills and some water. Adam swallowed them obediently, having no energy to fight. He tried to sit up, struggling with the heavy ache in his muscles and the vertigo.

"What do you need, Adam?" Gansey asked.

"I'm... I need to... get up." He croaked. "Homework. Shower."

"You are not doing your fucking homework." Ronan snapped.

"Ronan..." Gansey warned.

"Fine," Adam, in his weakened state, gave in. "I need a shower. Too hot."

"You have a fever," Ronan said. "It'll come down with the medicine. You don't have the energy right now."

Adam slumped against his pillows, defeated because he knew that Ronan was right. "I feel so crappy." He shivered.

"I thought you were hot," Ronan said.

"Well now I'm cold." Adam pulled his blanket up.

"It's the fever." Gansey stated.

"I _know_ , I'm not stupid." Adam sighed. He shivered again.

"Move over," Ronan said, then climbed into bed beside him. "There, body heat."

"You're not close enough for it to be warm, idiot," Adam grumbled. "Scoot closer." Ronan did, and Adam closed his eyes again.

"Adam," Gansey asked. "When's the last time you ate? Do you think you could eat? Maybe just some soup or toast?"

"I ate yesterday," Adam mumbled. "I'll try to eat."

Ronan started to get up, but Adam clung onto his shirt. "Do not leave."

From across the room, Gansey called out, "Adam, do you have a microwave? Or a toaster?"

"Microwave is right behind you," Adam croaked.

Gansey spun around. "Do you have bowls? I can't microwave a can... Oh, never mind."

He poured the can of soup into a mug, microwaved it, and brought it over to the bed. Adam hadn't realized how hungry he was. The warmth of the soup soothed his sore throat and made him feel less empty inside. He managed to finish most of the soup before handing the mug back to Gansey.

"Why?" He asked softly, resting his aching head on Ronan's shoulder.

"Why what?" Ronan asked.

"Why do you both... why are you..." He sighed, frustrated at the jumbled state of his fevered brain. "Why are you... Taking care of me?"

"You need someone here." Ronan scoffed. "You can barely move."

Adam managed a light laugh. "I've never been this sick in my _life_."

Gansey frowned. "You need to take it easy when you're not feeling well. And let us know before it gets this bad."

"I don't want..." Adam coughed. "I don't want to be a burden."

"We're here because we care about you," Gansey said gently. "You're our friend. We don't like seeing you hurt or sick, so just let us help sometimes, okay?"

Ronan slung an arm protectively around Adam.

"I've never been taken care of before." Adam murmured. "Not like this."

He spent the rest of the afternoon curled up next to Ronan and letting Gansey fuss over him. Adam decided that, even though he wanted to be independent, he could rely on his friends every once in a while. Especially when he was suffering through a fever.


End file.
